The Inevitable Weight Loss Story

Hey guys! I want to share with you the story of how I became good friends with Justin Bieber. You think that's crazy? That's just the beginning! I met another celebrity the same day! SANTA CLAUS! True story, but maybe I'll save that one for another day. ;)

Today I decided I could talk about my recent weight loss. It's a pretty long story, so I've been putting off talking about it but I decided I should just get it out of the way. Here we go!

I started out toward the end of last school year with a simple rule for myself: Make healthier choices. I guess now is a good time to share a little background information on what my eating habits were before this all started. I loved pizza, pasta, burritos, chicken fried steak with gravy (well, obviously - who would eat it without gravy?), and french fries. A lot of it, too. Now, I don't think I was ever too much of a piggy when it came to food, but some days I definitely ate like one! I easily polished off a good half of a large sized pizza on my own (leaving a couple pieces for breakfast the next morning, of course). Maybe some kids my age can get away with eating that much, but I also wasn't a very active person able to burn it all off. I was consuming too many calories (bad calories, at that) and over the years that added up, apparently.

Anyways, I'm sure you've heard that story from a million other people wanting to lose weight, so I'll move on. Right! Make healthier choices. I cut back on crappy foods and ate more reasonable portions. But at the beginning of my weight loss journey, I wasn't that strict with what I ate. As summer came and I started paying even more attention to what I was consuming, I got more and more strict. I cut out fast food, pizza, etc. completely and I started running every day and did a little bit of strength training at home. The weight quickly began shedding off and I was very pleased with my progress. This continued throughout the summer and the school year soon began and I was excited to show up looking better than I had the year before. All was well, it seemed.

Fast forward to the past couple of weeks and we find out that I am now technically underweight. I was in disbelief. I stopped weighing myself once I started feeling comfortable with my weight, so I lost track of how much I was still losing. Apparently too much. Now, a lot of drama has ensued since then and I'm trying to get back on track with a healthy weight for my age and height, but it's no walk in the park. If you think losing weight is hard, you're wrong. It's easy to cut calories and exercise more. What's tedious and stressful is counting every calorie, gram of fat, carbs, and protein to ensure you are getting enough of what you need every day. On top of that, I now have to increase my calories even more in order to gain a little weight back. The whole thing is becoming overwhelming and I truly wish that what you ate didn't matter so much. In a perfect world we could all eat what we wanted and be perfectly healthy.

You still with me? I know this is getting long and boring so I will wrap it up as best I can. I'm still not 100% positive I am where I should be, or that I am eating the perfect amount of calories a day, but I am trying. I never intended to lose too much weight, and I didn't even realize I had until recently. Maybe much of what I am saying is foreign to most of you, but this is my story and I thought I'd share! Obviously, I left out a lot of details for numerous reasons but this is the gist of it and I am excited to share my progress with you guys. Whenever that may be.

P.S. These photos have no significance other than being one of the few recent photos of me available. Plus, we're cute. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth! CHECK OUT HER BLOG, TOO! ;)

Super Easy, Super Weird, Spinach Smoothie!

     Hey guys! The past couple of days have been spent at my dad's house experimenting with food since I decided to become completely gluten free and vegetarian. As silly as it may seem for a seventeen year old boy to be so caught up in making he sure he gets the right amount of every nutrient, I'm proud of my hard work! My latest concoction is a smoothie containing a few random ingredients I found around the kitchen. I didn't have a wide selection, so I had to get creative. Obviously I am not the authority when it comes to smoothies or recipes, but I had fun being resourceful with everyday things you can find in your fridge to make a yummy breakfast. Thought I'd share!

What you will need:

• 1 apple
• 1 banana
• 2 cups fresh organic baby spinach
• 1½ cups unsweetened chocolate almond milk
• 2 tablespoons organic peanut butter of your choice
• 1 cup of ice

   

    You can be super creative with your ingredients, depending on what you have laying around in your kitchen! I used chocolate almond milk simply because it sounded yummy, but any milk flavor should be all the same! Also, I used Trader Joe's Valencia Peanut Butter with roasted flax seeds but obviously you can use any peanut butter or peanut butter substitute of your choosing. Lastly, pick whatever fruit you want! I wouldn't suggest adding more fruit, as it is very sweet already, but you can substitute whatever fruit you have handy. The main point of the smoothie is to incorporate some more green into your morning routine. That reminds me! If you are worried about not liking the spinach tastes; don't be! The fruit taste takes over most of the flavor. :)

Good luck and HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

New Year, New Goals!

Happy New Year, guys! I hope you're ready for a cliché post about resolutions, 'cuz that's what you're getting. I've never actually made legitimate New Year resolutions before, so this year will be a first for that among many other things. Have you guys ever set and stuck with your resolutions? If so, leave me a tip!

Number one: Maintain a true vegetarian lifestyle!
I've always wanted to become a vegetarian.. but when your mom is the one cooking the meals, you kind of just eat what you get. Since I started dieting this past summer, I began preparing my own meals. This is especially true now that I am completely gluten-free. I'm interested to see how this goal pans out. Today, for instance, I was googling tuna recipes until I realized that tuna was meat! That was a close one. ;) I've actually never quite liked the taste of meat, anyway, so I don't think I will miss eating it that badly. I foresee much tofu in my future.

Number two: Get workin' on my fitness again.
Over the summer when I lost all my weight, I was super good about running and doing basic things like sit-ups, push-ups, etc.. But since school started and the weather has gotten colder, I've gotten continuously lazier. Elizabeth and I are currently looking into joining a gym and we are going to try to hold each other accountable to working out a few times a week. Right now we are leaning toward Vision Quest, because they currently have no starting fee and they only ask $20 a month, versus the Y which wants us to pay $40. I choose the poor-man's gym. Take a look at my ultra buff arms, I gotta keep workin' these puppies!

Number three: Take more photos!
I love photography. I'm not the best at it, but I consider it one of my hobbies. Going through my Facebook albums, I see a million pictures from last school year and this past summer. Where are the photos of this year? There's hardly any! You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I don't know how true  that is, but I bet most of you would rather see photos than read one of my long, boring posts. One of my New Year goals is to document more of my life in photos. So expect to see plenty on my blog!


How about you? Have you set any goals? Anything I can possibly give you some pointers on? Leave me a comment and show me that I'm not writing for a nonexistent audience. ;)

Jingle Bell Run

Here are a few photos from when I participated in the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis with my friend Kelsey. She has had arthritis since she was really young and we've done the run together two years in a row now. 

I enjoyed a delicious salad at The Cheesecake Factory afterwards. :)